Display arrangement

ABSTRACT

A display arrangement is which visual information or advertising matter is applied to a support portion and/or a dangling portion suspended from the support portion through a substantially elongated strip-shaped portion utilizable in shelf railings or suspension from wall surfaces and the like. The aforementioned portions of the display arrangement form an integral display member be being integrally interconnected. The strip-shaped elongated portion extends from the bottom of the substantially flat-shaped support portion in an arc-shaped configuration. The dangling portion is suspended at the bottom end of the elongated strip-shaped portion.

United States Patent [1 1 Tanney Nov. 27, 1973 1 DISPLAY ARRANGEMENT [75] Inventor: Oliver Morley Tanney, Englewood,

[7 3] Assignee: Goodren Products Corp.,

Englewood, NJ.

221 Filed:- Jan. 6, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 104,300

[52] US. Cl. 40/10 R, 40/128 [51] Int. Cl. G091 3/18 [58] Field of Search 40/128, 125 A, 16, 40/125 R, 124.1, 10

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,080,733 5/1937 Mull 40/124.1

2,632,269 3/1953 Sanders 3,077,686 2/1963 Montalto 3,196,567 7/1965 Boehmer et a1. 40/310 3,423,860 1/1969 Berry et al. 40/125 R Primary ExaminerR0bert W. Michell Assistant Examiner--Wenceslao J. Contreras AttorneyEben M. Graves et al.

[57] ABSTRACT A display arrangement is which visual information or advertising matter is applied to a support portion and- /or a dangling portion suspended from the support portion through a substantially elongated strip-shaped portion utilizable in shelf railings or suspension from wall surfaces and the like. The aforementioned portions of the display arrangement form an integral display member be being integrally interconnected. The strip-shaped elongated portion extends from the bottom of the substantially flat-shaped support portion in, an arc-shaped configuration. The dangling portion is suspended at the bottom end of the elongated stripshaped portion.

9 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures Patented Nov. 27, 1973 IXVEXTOR.

Y O.MORLE7 TANNEY ({W ATTORNEYS DISPLAY ARRANGEMENT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the sale of merchandise through retail outlets, it is desirable to display prices as well as descriptive information pertinent to the merchandise or articles offered for sale. Thus, when stacking articles as, for example, bottles on shelves of a retail store, it is of advantage to display in conjunction with such articles, a descriptive information which pertains to the articles, and the price thereof. Whereas it has been conventional, in the past, to display prices of articles on rectangular-shaped labels of plates attached to the frontal edges of the shelves within the stores, it was not possible to display additional descriptive information and promotional material in conjunction with the numerous articles stored on theshelves.

In one conventional arrangement of this species, a supporting flap-shaped portion is slid into a rail on the frontal edges of the shelves, and the price is marked on a flap-shaped portion suspended from a strip-shaped element extendingfrom the top edge of the support portion. To make it possible that customers viewing the articles can read the displayed information on the support portion, the stripshaped element must necessarily be spaced a substantial amount from the reading surface of the support portion. To achieve such spatial relationship, the conventional design requires that the flap portion have a predetermined weight, in order that the elongated element become formed in a curved configuration which extends away from the support portion. In addition to this requirement of the flap portion, the elongated element must also be substantially of transparent material, so as not to hide the information directly beneath it on the support portion. These requirements on conventional display arrangements are a disadvantage because they do not permit full utilization of the available display surfaces, as well as the potential promotional characteristics of such display arrangement.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a display arrangement for use in conjunction with the sale of merchandise, whereby descriptive information and/or priceare visually displayed in a promotional manner. I

It is also an object of the present invention that such display arrangement be of simple design and manufacture.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a display arrangement of the foregoing character which does not require that the material used for the display be of transparent substance.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a display arrangement having no specific requirements with regard to weight or dimensional characteristics.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a display arrangement of the character described which is adaptable for suspension from a wall surface or the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Various further and more specific purposes, features and advantages will clearly appear from the detailed description given below taken in connection with the accompanying drawing which forms part of this specification and illustrate merely by way of examples, embodiments of the device of the invention.

The invention relates to a display arrangement for use in conjunction with the sale of articles in retail outlets whereby customers can readily ascertain the pertinent descriptive information on the article, as well as their prices. A supporting portion or head portion is flap-shaped and attached to the frontal edges of the shelves storing the articles offered for sale. From beneath the lower edge of the support or head portion, extends an elongated strip-shaped portion which, in turn, suspends a further flat-shaped portion of dangle. The strip-shaped portion or spine is curved in the form of an arc, as a result of being sharply bent relative to the support or head-shaped portion at the lower edge thereof. The dangle portion may or may not be bent sharply relative to the spine portion. Descriptive and/or price information is contained on one or both of the head portion and dangle portion. Such information may, when found advantageous, also be contained on the spine portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the following description and in the claims; parts will be identified by specific names for convenience, but such names are intended to be as generic in their application to similar parts as the art will permit. Like reference characters denote like parts in the several figures of the drawing, in which;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the display arrangement, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view and shows the manner of applying the display arrangement for sales purposes;

FIG. 3 is another embodiment of the display arrangement of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the arrangement of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the display arrange ment of the present invention, adapted for direct views on articles;

FIG. 6 is another embodiment of the display arrangement of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawing and, in particular, to FIG. 1, a basic embodiment of the display arrangement, in accordance with the present invention, has a support portion or'header 10. An elongated strip-shaped portion 12, hereinafter referred to as spine, extends from the lower edge of the header 10 in a curve-shaped configuration. The lower end of the spine 12 is substantially below the lower edge of the header 10, as well as substantially in front of the surface of the header 10. The spine 12 serves as a means for suspending a flatshaped display portion 14, referred to as the dangle hereafter. The portion 10, 12 and 14 may all be formed from one flat-shaped sheet of material, so that all 3 portions form an integral arrangement. Descriptive information and/or advertising matter may be printed or applied to any one or all of the 3 portions, as the header l0, spine 12 and dangle 14.

By providing that the spine 12 extends from beneath the lower edge of the header 10, in accordance with the present invention, the entire display surface of the header 10 is left free for viewing by the store customers. Furthermore, by providing that the spine 12 be sharply bent at the upper edge 12a of the spine, relative to the lower edge a of the header, an arched shaped configuration for the spine 12 is obtained. Thus, by bending the spine 12 relative to the header 10 along the line of interface between the spine and the header, the spine 12 assumes an arch-shaped curvature without requiring that the dangle 14 have any specific or predetermined weight.

The header 10 may be applied to the frontal edge of the shelves storing the articles to be sold, by providing pressure sensitive adhesive on the back of the header 10. The user of the display arrangement, can then apply the display of the present invention, in a simple manner by merely removing the protective paper which exposes the pressure sensitive adhesive at the back of the header 10. Thus, the pressure-sensitive substance is a conventional adhesive which is ready for use and application at all times without requiring any further mixing or other preparation in mechanical or chemical form. To protect the adhesive before use, a protective coated paper, often referred to as fish paper, is applied over the adhesive. When the adhesive is then to be used this protective paper is to be removed by simply peeling it from the adhesive.

The adhesive applied to the back of the header 10 may be of the permanent or temporary pressuresensitive type. When of the permanent type, the header is permanently attached to the original surface. When, on the other hand, temporary adhesive is used, the header 10 may, at will, be removed by peeling off from the original surface, and then reapplied, in the same pressure sensitive manner, to another surface.

It is also possible to secure the header 10 to the frontal edges of the store shelves, by sliding the header into railings provided along the edges of the shelves. These railings are often installed to allow cards with identifying information to be slid along the shelve edges. An example of the installation of such railings 16 is shown in FIG. 2. The header 10 is merely slid along the railings and on the frontal edges of the shelves. With such railing construction, adhesive material on the back of the header is not necessary.

A modification of the display configuration of FIG. 1, may be obtained when the dangle 14 is also bent relative to the spine 12. This construction is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, in which the dangle 14 is bent upwards at the line of interface between the spine 12 and the dangle 14. By having the dangle thus bent upwards, it is possible to modify the curvature of the spine 12, and to further provide display messages or promotional information on the dangle. When thus bent upwards, a design such as a bottle on the frontal surface of the dangle in FIG. 3, will become inverted and appear on the rear surface of the dangle, when the dangle is not bent with respect to the spine 12 as is the case in FIG. 1. Accordingly, information or messages in the form of descriptive or promotional matter, as well as prices, may be applied to both sides or surfaces of the dangle, and one or the other of the surfaces of the dangle may be displayed, as desired, by simply bending or not bending the dangle relative to the spine.

The use of the display arrangement, in accordance with the present invention, is not confined to being installed on the frontal edges of storage shelves. The header may, for example, be equally well applied to a wall surface, through the use of the pressure sensitive adhesive on the back of the header.

It is also quite feasible to use the display arrangement in an application illustrated by FIG. 5. In this application of the display arrangement, the header 10 is provided with a slit, so that the header may be slipped over the neck of a bottle 16, for example. The dangle in FIG. 5 may be either left unbent relative to the spine 12, or it may be bent in accordance with the configuration of FIG. 4, for example. When arranged as in FIG. 5, the display device of the present invention may also have information or messages for sales purposes on all 3 portions of the device, such as the header, the spine, and dangle.

The display arrangement of the present invention is not confined to a single spine and dangle. As illustrated in FIG. 6, a plurality of spines may extend from the header. In the particular case of FIG. 6, 3 spines 18 extend from the lower edge of the header 20. These 3 spines l8 suspend, respectively, dangles shaped in the form of an apple 22, a pear 24 and a plum 26. Thus, the header 20 may be made sufficiently long for the desired spacing between the 3 spines and their respective dangles. Stored on the shelves to which the header 20 is secured, may be compartments containing the respective fruit illustrated by the dangles.

The material used for the display device may be a clear plastic, or it may be an opaque material. An example of a suitable material is a vinyl. The display device of the present invention may be cut or stamped from a single sheet of such material, and then may bent as required, so that the proper angular relationships prevail between the spine and header, as well as the dangle. An opaque material is possible for the display device, of the present invention, since the spine does not, at any time, hide any of the viewing surfaces of either the header or the dangle.

While the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to a certain preferred example which gives satisfactory results, it will be understood by those skilled in the art after understanding the principle of the invention, that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A display device adapted to be secured in display position to a supporting means and formed from a unitary flat piece of resilient transparent sheet material, said device including, a support portion for securing said device to said supporting means, a suspended portion, and an elongated spine portion connected at one end to said suspended portion and at the other end to the lower edge of said support portion, the elongated spine portion being sharply bent at its intersection with the lower edge of support portion when the device is in its display position on a supporting means, thereby to cause said spine portion to arch away from said support portion and maintain suspended portion resiliently forward of and below said support portion, display matter applied to said suspended portion and adapted to be viewed when said device is in its display position, said spine portion being narrow relative to said support and suspended portions and being left transparent, thereby leaving said support portion substantially unobstructed from view by said spine and suspended portion.

2. A display device as in claim 1 wherein said support portion is elongated in a direction perpendicular to the length of said spine portion, to enable display matter to be applied thereto.

3. A display device as in claim 1 wherein said support portion is adapted to be secured to the edge of an article bearing shelf.

4. A display device as in claim 1 wherein said support portion includes an adhesive material for securing it to a supporting means.

5. A display device as in claim 1 wherein said support portion is formed with a slit for securing said device to said supporting means.

6. A display device as in claim 1 in which are provided a plurality of suspended portions connected to said support portion by respective ones of a like plurality of spine portions.

7. A display device as in claim 1 wherein said suspended portion is sharply bent at its intersection with said spine portion.

8. A display device as in claim 1 wherein said sheet material is a vinyl plastic.

9. A display device adapted to be secured to a supporting means and formed from a unitary flat piece of resilient sheet material, said device including a support portion for securing said device to said supporting means, a suspended portion, and an elongated transparent spine portion connected at one end to said suspended portion and at the other end to the lower edge of said support portion, the elongated spine portion adapted to be sharply bent at its intersection with the support portion, said display device further including display matter-applied to its surface on both said support portion and said suspended portion, the bending of said spine portion at the lower edge of said support portion upon the device being secured to the supporting means causing said spine portion to arch away from said support portion and maintain said suspended portion resiliently forward of and below said support portion, thereby leaving the display matter on said support portion substantially unobstructed from view by said spine and suspended portion. 

1. A display device adapted to be secured in display position to a supporting means and formed from a unitary flat piece of resilient transparent sheet material, said device including, a support portion for securing said device to said supporting means, a suspended portion, and an elongated spine portion connected at one end to said suspended portion and at the other end to the lower edge of said support portion, the elongated spine portion being sharply bent at its intersection with the lower edge of support portion when the device is in its display position on a supporting means, thereby to cause said spine portion to arch away from said support portion and maintain said suspended portion resiliently forward of and below said support portion, display matter applied to said suspended portion and adapted to be viewed when said device is in its display position, said spine portion being narrow relative to said support and suspended portions and being left transparent, thereby leaving said support portion substantially unobstructed from view by said spine and suspended portion.
 2. A display device as in claim 1 wherein said support portion is elongated in a direction perpendicular to the length of said spine portion, to enable display matter to be applied thereto.
 3. A display device as in claim 1 wherein said support portion is adapted to be secured to the edge of an article bearing shelf.
 4. A display device as in claim 1 wherein said support portion includes an adhesive material for securing it to a supporting means.
 5. A display device as in claim 1 wherein said support portion is formed with a slit for securing said device to said supporting means.
 6. A display device as in claim 1 in which are provided a plurality of suspended portions connected to said support portion by respective ones of a like plurality of spine portions.
 7. A display device as in claim 1 wherein said suspended portion is sharply bent at its intersection with said spine portion.
 8. A display device as in claim 1 wherein said sheet material is a vinyl plastic.
 9. A display device adapted to be secured to a supporting means and formed from a unitary flat piece of resilient sheet material, said device including a support portion for securing said device to said supporting means, a suspended portion, and an elongated transparent spine portion connected at one end to said suspended portion and at the other end to the lower edge of said support portion, the elongated spine portion adapted to be sharply bent at its intersection with the support portion, said display device further including display matter applied to its surface on both said support portion and said suspended portion, the bending of said spine portion at the lower edge of said support portion upon the device being secured to the supporting means causing said spine portion to arch away from said support portion and maintain said suspended portion resiliently forward of and below said support portion, thereby leaving the display matter on said support portion substantially unobstructed from view by said spine and suspended portion. 